Curiosity Killed the Cat

Chapter 27: Battle

Loki sat in his mother's gardens. His hand brushed against the soft grass that he sat upon. He stared into the vines and flowers in a daze as his mind raced.

It's my fault! I knew someone was messing with the royal family and yet I still let her out of my sight, and the second I did she got attacked! That magic though... it seemed so familiar, but why can I not place it?!

Loki tried harder and harder to think about whose magic that was, but every time he did, he came up with nothing. In fact, every time he thought about it, his own mind seemed to push against him, as if it almost didn't want to know.

Why would my mind push against itself?

Loki tried again and again, and it just kept pushing back. Loki tried a different approach. The first time he noticed his memories being messed with was the Alfheim bloom festival. After that he had discovered a few more minor ones, but he tried to find the common denominator in all of them...

"Eris," he said as his eyes widened. But it couldn't be, her magic typically had a blue tint to it...

A sorcerer's magic can change color if the begin to practice dark magic. That must be it! In which case everyone is in danger with her being here!

"...Peter!"

Loki rushed out of the gardens and used a tracking spell to find where Peter was. The spell led him to the doorway to the throne room. The guards around it were dead.

He threw open the doors to see Eris sitting on the throne. Peter sat bound on the ground near her feet.

"Loki!" Peter perked up as soon as he saw his friend enter the hall.

Eris stood up and descended the throne. "I kept the seat warm for you, love. We can finally be happy!"

Loki glared at her. "What makes you think that this would make me happy?! You cursed my brother and my mother and you have my best friend in the entire universe chained at your feet! I-"

"They would have never let you rise to the power you were born to have!"

"We aren't born to have anything, Eris! Our choices determine what we should or should not have, not who we were born to, or any title we might have! Thor and Frigga are more deserving of the throne than I ever was. I don't want a throne. I only wish to live my life with the people I love... and you have hurt ALL of them! Eris, let them go."

"Why?! So I can go back to groveling at Olympus' feet?! No, I will have a throne even if I have to kill you to get it!"

She lunged at him but fell right through his illusion. She spun around to see Peter and Loki standing next to each other, bindings lying forgotten on the floor. Loki touched Peter's suit and it glowed with a green magic throughout. Loki himself now stood in full battle armor, minus helmet.

Loki looked at Peter. "Together?"

Peter nodded his head. "Together."

Loki teisted his hands and hurled a glowing ball of green fire at Eris, which she dissapated with a magic shield. She threw a blade at him, which he deflected, while Peter shot a glowing web at her. She wasn't able to get out of the way in time and it went through he shoulder like an arrow.

She growled and turned on Peter, sending out a shockwave that made both him and Loki crash into one of the pillars. She stalked towards the teen but Loki pulled her back with his magic. She spun on him as he threw a spear directly at her. She dodged it, but grabbed it mid-air and threw it right back at him at a startling speed. He wasn't quick enough to dodge it fully as it snagged the top corner of his coat. He struggled to get free as she threw him on the ground.

"I did all of this for you!"

He managed to roll away but she sent a strong wave of magic at him that caught his leg. He fell to the ground.

Her rage at Loki allowed Peter to get the upper hand and land on her shoulders, taking her down to the ground. Peter shot an lightning web at her neck. She struggled and convulsed, trying to get Peter off of her, but eventually the electric shocks sent her into unconsciousness.

Peter breathed heavily as he dismounted her, clutching his injured head from being thrown into the pillar. He looked at Loki as he passed out.

Loki looked at his friend proudly, but became extremely worried when Peter passed out. He was about to go over to him, when he started to feel the pain from Eris's last attack. He himself started to feel faint. He could hear the guards rushing in to arrest Eris and help him and Peter, but he wasn't paying too much attention to that. He had enough sense left in him to realize that something was wrong with his leg before he passed out.